October 14, 1892: Football Pushes Baseball Back

The 1892 Princeton University football team

October 14, 1892: The scheduled game between the Boston Beaneaters and the Washington Senators is postponed, because the Senators' ballpark, Boundary Field, has already been reserved by the Columbia Athletic Club for a football game against The College of New Jersey.

The Beaneaters were the forerunners of the Braves. The Senators went on to fold in 1899, and are not to be confused with any later D.C. team. The Columbia Athletic Club was based in D.C., and is not to be confused with Columbia University in New York City. In 1896, The College of New Jersey was renamed Princeton University, and should not be confused with the current TCNJ, formerly Trenton State College.

As far as I know, this is the 1st time football has ever asserted its authority, whatever that might be, over baseball.

It's just as well: Princeton were a juggernaut that year. They began the season beating Rutgers 30-0 at home, beat Lehigh 16-0 away just 4 days later, beat Lafayette 40-0 at home only 3 days after that, won this game 42-0, beat Navy 28-0 in Annapolis the very next day, beat Lehigh 52-0 at home only 4 days later, beat the New York Athletic Club 40-0 at the Polo Grounds only 2 days later, beat the Crescent Athletic Club 42-0 at Eastern Park in Brooklyn (then the home of the team that would become known as the Dodgers) the very next day, beat the Manhattan Athletic Club 46-0 at home 5 days later, beat Wesleyan University 60-0 at Manhattan Field only 2 days later, and beat the Chicago Athletic Association 12-0 at home only 4 days later. That's 11-0, by an average score of 39-0.

Finally, it all caught up with them. Three days after beating the Chicago A.A., they went to Philadelphia, and lost 6-4 to the University of Pennsylvania at the Germantown Cricket Club. Three days later, they beat the Orange Athletic Club, 23-0 at the Orange Oval in East Orange, New Jersey. Then they had their longest break of the season, 16 days, playing again on Thanksgiving, again at Manhattan Field, next-door to the Polo Grounds and the home of baseball's New York Giants in the 1890 season only, and lost to Yale, 12-0. This finished them at 12-2, and handed the National Championship to Yale.

Boundary Park became the home of the American League's Washington Senators in 1904, after 3 seasons at American League Park. In 1907, it became the 1st major league home field of the Senators' greatest player, Walter Johnson, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball history. On April 14, 1910, President William Howard Taft began the tradition of the President throwing out the ceremonial first ball, at Boundary Field.

The wooden stands were destroyed by fire on March 17, 1911. The clubhouse in the northeast corner and a portion of the open bleachers in left field were saved. A meeting of the directors of the club was held that afternoon to discuss the future of the field. The option to start the season on the old Union League grounds or have Boston or New York host the opening series of the games at their parks were considered.

By Opening Day, April 12, 16,000 temporary stands were up, allowing the team to open the season at home. Piece by piece, a new concrete-and-steel stand went up, and the renamed National Park was declared open on July 24. It hosted Washington baseball for the next 50 years, mostly under the name Griffith Stadium.

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October 14, 1892 was a Friday. The Beaneaters probably didn't mind much that their game for this day was postponed, because they'd already clinched the National League Pennant. Here's the 3 games that were played as scheduled:

* The New York Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds. This facility would burn down in 1894, and be rebuilt the next year, eventually becoming known as Baker Bowl.

* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the Baltimore Orioles played to a 2-2 tie. Baseball-Reference.com has no indication as to why they did not play until a winner was found. It could have been due to darkness, but that usually didn't happen in those days unless a game went to extra innings, and there's no mention of a number of innings played. There wouldn't be, unless it was anything other than 9. More than that would suggest being called due to darkness; fewer would suggest rain. But neither is mentioned.

* The Cleveland Spiders beat the Louisville Colonels, 16-10 at League Park in Cleveland. Yes, that's a baseball game, not a football game.

* At any rate, the Beaneaters and Senators played a doubleheader the next day, the last day of the regular season. The Beaneaters swept, 7-4 and 4-0.

* The Chicago Colts and the St. Louis Browns were not scheduled. The Browns became the Cardinals in 1900, and the Colts became the Cubs in 1903. These teams, already having faced each other in postseason play in 1885 and 1886, would become arch-rivals in the 20th Century.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates were also not scheduled. They would also form something of a rivalry, though it took until the 1970s to develop.

The Bridegrooms became the Superbas in 1899, and the Dodgers in 1911. The Beaneaters became the the Doves in 1907, the Rustlers in 1911, and the Braves in 1912. The Senators, Orioles, Spiders and Colonels went out of business after the 1899 season.